LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 — Charlie Brooker, creator of International Emmy winning series “Black Mirror,” is behind “How Videogames Changed the World,” whose teaser trailer highlights the seismic influence of “Minecraft.”
Having written for satirical TV shows “Brass Eye” and “Nathan Barley,” Brooker is perhaps better recognised for his role in the humorous “Screenwipe” series of TV programme analysis.
But Brooker is equally well versed in video gaming, having written for British magazine PC Zone in the 1990s.
In a teaser segment for “How Videogames Changed the World” he describes the 33 million selling co-operative construction game “Minecraft” as being “easy, creative and social,” and one whose biggest fans are children.
“It’s one of those bits of gaming genius, the Lego of video games” exclaims veteran game designer Jeff Minter, whose creations include the 1991 psychedelic arcade homage “Llamatron 2112” and its critically acclaimed 2010 successor on iOS, “Minotron 2112.”
“Geography teachers use ‘Minecraft’ to get children to design villages, physics teachers use ‘Minecraft’ to teach kids about simple mechanisms,” adds Guardian journalist Keith Stuart.
“It’s a world of logic and creativity that [my son] immediately understands. It’s really helped my son express himself, which is really profoundly important.”
Graham Linehan, who lies behind “The IT Crowd” and “Father Ted,” is also on hand to describe the game’s adoption by its legions of child followers.
“They create these huge structures for themselves, these huge structures, not because someone is telling them to but because they want to,” he says, remarking that players learn “so much about teamwork and design and architecture and the environment, just by playing this game.” — AFP Relaxnews
“How Videogames Changed the World” airs on British TV channel Channel 4 on Saturday, November 30 at 9pm GMT.
